Newton juveniles charged for stealing guns, parents charged for concealing them

Newton Police Department has charged three juveniles with felonies for allegedly stealing guns, and some of their parents may go to jail for hiding the evidence.

According to a Nov. 5 press release, all three juveniles — whose names were not identified in the press release due to them being under the age of 18 — have been charged with burglary, reckless use of firearms and trafficking stolen firearms. These felony charges resulted from a two-month investigation.

Officers were first alerted to the crimes on Aug. 21 when they received a report of a burglary in the 1600 block of West Seventh Street South in Newton.

The victim reported firearms and numerous other items were stolen.

Over the course of the investigation, police learned parents of some of the juveniles attempted to hide, conceal and/or alter the physical evidence related to the prosecution of their children. As a result, Newton Police Department charged two individuals: Brian Ray Hammer Sr., 44, and Amanda Lynn Bruce, 38.

Hammer has been charged with accessary after the fact (aggravated misdemeanor), obstructing prosecution (aggravated misdemeanor) and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (simple misdemeanor). Bruce was charged with obstructing prosecution (aggravated misdemeanor).

Criminal complaints obtained by Newton News show that Bruce’s child was arrested and charged for the burglary on Oct. 15. Police obtained Snapchat records from the child via search warrant and from other co-defendants, associates and witness involved in the investigation.

In those records, a phone call was video recorded. Bruce could be heard speaking on the phone telling the other individuals to “keep their mouths shut” and to “change your Snapchat.” When police received the Snapchat records, the records indicated the usernames of others involved had been changed recently.

Officers suspected the juveniles of the burglary as early as September. In that same month, police issued a search warrant for the phone of one of the juveniles. Neither the juvenile nor Hammer were home at the time, so a copy of the warrant was left with a family member.

According to social media messages obtained by police, after the warrant was served, Hammer offered to help the juvenile even though he was aware of the felony crimes alleged. He instructed the child to deactivate their social media accounts and to not have their phone on them and to hide it from police.

When Hammer brought his child to the police department and officers asked about the child’s phone, the criminal complaint states that Hammer lied and told them his child does not have a phone.

The case is still under the investigation.